Heading into the holiday weekend, Butler County appears to be following a statewide trend in rising COVID-19 statistics.

According to a report Thursday by the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Butler County added seven confirmed cases. The county now has 285 confirmed cases and 34 probable cases, which have pending results.

Despite the rise in positive cases, the county's number of deaths remains at 13.

In a joint statement Thursday, Butler Health System, Butler County Commissioners and Butler County Emergency Management Services advised the public to wear masks and practice social distancing when out in public.

“There has been an increase in the number of positive COVID-19 in Butler County, and we want to be sure that we are protecting our health care workers, service employees, police, first responders and our families, along with avoiding a surge in hospital admissions related to COVID-19,” the news release said.

Additionally, the Butler County Parks and Recreation Department will begin requiring visitors to wear masks starting Friday. Guests will also be required to sign a waiver form upon entering Alameda Waterpark.

“Guests will be required to wear a mask everywhere in the facility; guests are asked to not wear their masks while inside the body of water,” the news release said.

Statewide cases also rose Thursday, with 832 new cases. Statewide new case totals reflect a combination of both confirmed and probable cases.

Shortly after the report of Thursday's figure, Gov. Tom Wolf released a statement reiterating the latest mandate of the mask-wearing order signed Wednesday by state Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine.

“As we approach the Fourth of July holiday weekend and we see another spike in cases today in Pennsylvania, it's critical that Pennsylvanians take the mandate to wear masks seriously,” Wolf said.

In a separate statement Thursday, Levine said people should not view being placed in the green phase as an excuse to ignore her order to wear masks.

“My mask protects you, and your mask protects me,” she said. “Wearing a mask shows that you care about others, and that you are committed to protecting the lives of those around you.”

Wolf said state health officials fear Fourth of July activities could cause a fresh wave of COVID-19 cases.

“We have seen evidence that indicates Pennsylvania's recent case increases can be traced to settings where people were not wearing masks or practicing social distancing,” he said. “This can lead to more and more cases in our state.”

The Department of Health's collective data from June became complicated in the early part of that month. From June 1 to June 9, the department released only a total case number, which included both confirmed and probable cases. Beginning June 10, the department began releasing case totals broken down into confirmed cases and probable cases.

Coming with this change was a brief period where Butler County saw a plateaulike trend in confirmed cases. From June 11 to June 20, the county added only three cases to its confirmed count, including no additions from June 16 to June 20.

Since then, the county has seen a steady increase in confirmed cases.

From June 21 to June 30, the county averaged 4.4 new confirmed cases daily.

Since June 26, the county had a seven-day average of about 5.3 new confirmed cases per day.

In recent weeks, Wolf has praised Pennsylvanians for being part of a trend that saw the state as one of few with continually declining COVID-19 cases, likely broken by this week's increases.

“We have made such tremendous progress; let's not let that progress go to waste, risking lives and livelihoods,” Wolf said. “We all must do one simple thing to stop the spread of COVID-19: Wear a mask, Pennsylvania.”

The following numbers on the coronavirus pandemic were compiled from regular news releases from the state Department of Health.Thursday's COVID-19 statistics:Butler CountyConfirmed cases: 285Probable cases: 34Negative tests: 7,046Deaths: 13PennsylvaniaNew cases: 832Total cases: 88,074New deaths: 25Total deaths: 6,712Recovered: 78 percentSurrounding CountiesAllegheny: 2,949 confirmed cases; 57,418 negative; and 188 deathsArmstrong: 77 confirmed; 2,203 negative; and 6 deathsBeaver: 668 confirmed; 6,362 negative; and 79 deathsClarion: 36 confirmed; 1,019 negative; and 2 deathsLawrence: 95 confirmed; 2,770 negative; and 9 deathsMercer: 124 confirmed; 4,295 negative; and 6 deathsVenango: 16 confirmed and 1,260 negativeWestmoreland: 685 confirmed; 18,115 negative; and 38 deaths.